April Showers Bring May Flowers: Kelly Anorak Rain Coat

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Growing up, my dad always insisted that my brothers and I wear rain coats. I was more of the run-to-the-car-with-my-hood-up type of teenager, but he made sure that we wore our rain coats. My rebellious self didn’t take a raincoat to college. After college, my mom gave me a great trench coat, but it doesn’t have a hood. Finally, years later, I decided it was time to have a proper rain coat. Enter the Kelly Anorak by Closet Case Patterns.

This pattern came out within about a week of IndieSew’s Lonetree Jacket. I debated between the two patterns for a few days before landing on the Kelly Anorak. I had just completed my second pair of Ginger Jeans, and was very satisfied with Closet Case Patterns, so I decided to give them my business. The two patterns are very similar, though, and I think both would have worked out great.

All of the materials for this rain coat came from Joann’s or my stash. The fabric is nylon ripstop. It is pretty transparent, so I opted not to use any interfacing at all. The ripstop was pretty stiff, so this worked out just fine. The necessary notions include a separating zipper, drawstring, drawstring sliders, and snaps. Fortunately I already had the snaps in my stash from making a few rolls of reusable “paper towels” years ago (pre-blog). If you look close enough, you can see that they have little frogs on them. The pattern also recommends rivets for the drawstring opening. I couldn’t find any coordinating rivets, so I used a buttonhole instead.

I ended up needing to shorten the zipper in order for it to fit. I’d actually never shorted a zipper before this project, so it was a learning experience, but a fun one. I got the needlenose pliers out of the toolbox, and used them to yank about four teeth from the zipper tape.

There were a lot of steps to put this pattern together, but none of them were very complicated. If I were to make it again, and I just might for a fall jacket, I would make a size larger. I like that it is fitted, but my arm’s range of motion is a little limited. I can lift my arms enough to drive, but much more than that is a challenge. The sleeves are also a tad shorter than I would like. I had one unrelated fit issue. As it is drafted (and made here), the drawstring does not fall at my natural waist, but about two inches higher. I do have a long torso, so this might not be a common problem, but I don’t typically lengthen patterns either. I was not able to easily lower the drawstring and casing, though, because it would have run into the pockets. I didn’t discover this issue until after the pockets were in place, so I didn’t move the drawstring. I will put some more thought into that last time.

All in all, I am pretty happy with this jacket, and have already worn it a number of times. I haven’t worn it in a downpour yet, but it does just fine in a spring drizzle. Thanks, Dad!

Thanks! It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. It’s thicker and less slippery than I imagined, so it didn’t have any problems with it moving on its own…if you know what I mean. It frays a decent amount, but I just serged all of my seams, and that doesn’t show up too much even though it’s fairly translucent.

Hi Renee!
As part of my April column about sewing trends for Sew, Mama, Sew!, I’d love to share this project. I will share one photo and link to both your project and your main blog address. (you can see past trends posts here: http://www.sewmamasew.com/?s=sewing+trends

the post is scheduled for April 15. As per my agreement with SMS i do need your express permission to use one of your photos, so if you’d like to be included, please respond ASAP.